Contemplative Bible Reading

Deuteronomy 28:9-10 (New Living Translation)

9 “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. 10 Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you.

Let’s have a little background here: the people being addressed just spent 400 years in servitude in Egypt. They were L O S E R S !!!

Now, the next day, if they obey, they will be a people who are set aside for great things, i.e., “holy.”

All the nations will see with their own eyes (no mumbo jumbo here, just plain SEE IT) that these people are claimed by YHWH or Jehovah—the one god that created everything. All the nations knew there was one Creator God and none of the nations would mess with that God.

This people would be claimed by the Creator. They would be in a special relationship with the Creator. That inspires fear. That inspires respect. That inspires awe.

I find it unfortunate that over the centuries since, the people mentioned here and the Christians who followed have acted, well, not so awe inspiring. I flop on my face far too often to inspire awe. I shouldn’t be that way. In my body lives God’s Spirit. I need to move aside more often and let that Spirit show. Please God, help me in my unbelief.